


So Alike But So Different

by Imoshen



Series: SPN Heaven and Hell Bingo 2019 [13]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Apocalypseverse (Supernatural), Apocalypseverse Michael Being an Asshole (Supernatural), M/M, non-graphic, sort of torture, that tag fits really well
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:49:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22364401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imoshen/pseuds/Imoshen
Summary: Apocalypseverse Michael doesn't understand Lucifer at all. Nick could enlighten him but would reather kill him.
Relationships: Lucifer/Nick (Supernatural)
Series: SPN Heaven and Hell Bingo 2019 [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1295129
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27
Collections: Heaven and Hell Bingo





	So Alike But So Different

**Author's Note:**

> Written for SPN Heaven & Hell Bingo for the square Apocalypse World!Michael on my Card.

At first, he believed it was his brother, returned to the living somehow.

He wasn’t quite sure what he thought (and felt) about that, but it must have been something aside from anger and the desire to fight. It hurt when he realized it wasn’t _his_ Lucifer.

The differences were not so great at first – the same sass, the same snark, the same unwillingness to bow down to him. But that’s where the similarities end.

Michael saw his Lucifer in his true form as they fought in the skies over Abilene, saw the endless blackness of his Grace, the rage and the madness roiling just beneath the surface. They had talked before they fought, and his brother had seemed sane, but it was just a thin veneer that disappeared within moments. His Lucifer had been acting without thought, without strategy, and it had been what allowed Michael to tear him apart in the end.

It’s very different with this Lucifer, even in the cage Michael has him in. His Grace is… lesser, in a way, than his Lucifer’s Grace was, but it’s very different. The blackness is there, and Michael can see the red haze of rage too – but there is a brightness that rivals that of Heaven.

“What makes you so different?” he asks, walking around the cage. Maybe another angle – but no, all he sees are his not-brother’s wings. They appear black at first glance, but closer inspection tells Michael it’s just a layer of soot covering the feathers. Beneath, they still have the glorious colors his brother was famous for.

“Different?” Lucifer asks, sarcasm thick in his voice. “You mean _alive_ , don’t you?”

“No, I mean different.” Michael snarls in frustration and gestures. “You possess the brightness of Heaven still, even if it’s tainted and darkened. But it’s _there_ , and my Lucifer didn’t have it. I’m trying to understand why.”

This other Lucifer watches him with a mocking little smile. “Why would I tell you? So you can kill me like you did him?”

Michael almost flinches at the reminder. In the end, it was so pointless. There were no answers. But he might find one in that Paradise World this Lucifer comes from. And maybe he won’t be so alone there if he plays his cards right.

“I don’t plan to kill you… not right now,” he informs his not-brother. “I just want to understand why you’re not as insane as my brother was.” Was it something their Father did? Was that the answer he didn’t see?

His prisoner doesn’t answer, the darkness and the brightness inside his Grace roiling and ebbing and flowing in mesmerizing ways. He doesn’t answer even when Michael shakes the cage again, impales him on the spikes. He doesn’t answer with anything but a thin, mocking smile when Michael threatens to rip each feather from his wings with his bare hands.

“Millennia in the Cage couldn’t break me,” he finally rasps. “Being betrayed by my True Vessel couldn’t break me. You don’t stand a chance, Michael – you’re half the Michael my own brother was.”

It earns him another spike thrust into his back, and this time Michael manages to tear a pained sound from him – but he doesn’t get any answers, just that endless, mesmerizing ebb and flow of bright and dark.

Inside Lucifer, Nick’s soul curls around the Archangel’s Grace. _I hope we can kill him,_ the human murmurs. _He’s a cruel bastard._

Lucifer hums in agreement. _I’ll give you his wings on a silver platter,_ he promises. _Just as soon as we get out of here and I get my hands on an Archangel blade._

_Promises, promises_ , Nick teases, and the darkness recedes a little further.

It’s not something this Michael would understand even if Lucifer explained it to him. His own Michael might have understood, after a time and under the right circumstances – but this one is too far gone to understand the magnitude of wonders something as insubstantial as love can cause.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos make an author's day <3


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